 the mayor of riverspire 's fortieth birthday is days away the mayor mayor's advisor an accident-prone mage named morrigan had planned a special treat for the upcoming celebration to atone for his latest blunder an explosion in the duke duke's alchemy lab using a modified bersion of the   light wizard light   spell along with   pyrotechnics   and   flaming sphere   spells morrigan hoped to perform a spectacular firework show that would put him back in the duke duke's favor unfortunately the mage was unable to cultivate enough of the phosphorescent moss the material component of the   light wizard light   spell for his firework show undeterred the crafty mage used an entrance to the city city's catacomb network he had discovered some time ago looking for the phosphorescent moss that grows on the subterranean walls then he had another accident while navigating through the bowels of the city he encountered a gray ooze that attacked from the shadows the ooze which feeds on metal devoured morrigan 's   wand of wonder   in the ensuing melee and the wand wand's magic flowed into the gray ooze in a spectacular multicolored explosion engorged with magical energy the ooze began to randomly belch forth the consumed   wand of wonder    s magic to morrigan morrigan's horror the ooze ooze's first magical expulsion summoned a rhinoceros which charged down the narrow muddy tunnel morrigan panicked and fled toward the nearest entrance 50 yards away the two-ton rhinoceros on his tail unfortunately the entrance led into an abandoned building on the edge of riverspire riverspire's bustling market where the player characters are going about their business havoc in the market havoc in the market havoc in the market the pcs can be in the market square for whatever reasons the dm desires when they arrive read or paraphrase the following description class desc you stroll through the bustling town square weaving through the chaotic crowd you pass many booths that proudly display various emrchandise and oddities the air is brimming with smells from the salty odor of the fishmonger fishmonger's salmon to the sweet aroma of the baker baker's pastries to your left a dark-haired middle-aged man struggles with a broken wagon axle as a nearby merchant yells angrily that the broken cart is blocking his booth two small children dart in front of you giggling noisily as their game of tag continues through the congested street about twenty yard ahead a thick crowd pushes and shoves to get a better view of three juggling street performers suddenly through the din of the market square you hear a booming voice reverberate off the surrounding city walls the source of the voice is a small frazzle-haired man wearing muddy blue robes he is trying to squeeze himself through the boarded-off entrance to an apparantly-abandoned building on the edge of the square run for your lives it it's got my wand he yells just as the frantic man throws himself away from the blocked doorway the boards are ripped from the doorframe and flung about the square from out of the darkness of the building comes a huge panicked rhinoceros its powerful legs fling mud in every direction as the beast charges horn lowered into the marketplace morrigan 's unnaturally loud voice is the result of an   audible glamer   spell which he cast while squeezing through the doorway the rhinoceros begins its rampage about 50 yards from the pcs it overturns carts and smashes through merchant displays to escape from the chaos of the crowd the pcs should roll for surprise with normal modifiers the dm should keep in mind that the rhino was summoned from its native element into a heavily populated city the rhino is only acting instinctively and any damage it causes is the result of its attempt to escape the pcs are free to take whatever actions they want at this point; however the crowd has dissolved into outright chaos further complicating the situation movement in the market square should be halved and a -2 penalty applies to all ranged attack rolls four rounds after the rhino breaks free the crowd clears and the ranged attack penalty no longer applies should the pcs think to use any equipment left behind by the fleeing merchants they can find just about anything listed in the player player's handbook in 1-4 rounds depending on the items rarity for example a rope or net could be found in 1 round while a mancatcher might take 4 rounds to locate keep in mind however that while the pcs search for equipment the rhino is wreaking havoc in the town square pcs could subdue the rhino without killing it the rhino fights to the death if attacked and trying to beat the beast into submission only enrages it further a ranger may attempt to calm the rhino using his animal empathy skill with normal chances of success snaring the rhino with a rope or net requires a successful called shot bringing down the rhino requires a successful overbearing attempt the rhino is difficult to pin down and has the equivalent of 19 strength the broken wagon at the southern end of the market makes an excellent tether for the pcs lassos should they try to rope down the rhino noncombative magic such as   hypnotic pattern   or   color spray   spells are also useful for subduing the rhino in the case of   color spray   and similarly blinding spells the rhino remains inactive the first round of its blindness then lashes out in a blind frenzy suffering a -4 attack penalty once the pcs have had 2 rounds to react to the rhinoceros read or paraphrase the following class desc from inside the abandoned building you hear what sounds like a heavy rainstorm a thin trickle of water begins to issue from the doorway quickly turning into a gushing stream carried out by the deluge an incandescent blob flops out of the building and onto the earthen ground the blob writhes slowly before forming into a five-foot-tall mass that resembles a coiled cobra poised for attack the gray ooze was sliding away to finish digesting its meal when it belched forth more of the wand wand's magic this time a rainstorm is created that washes the hapless ooze out into the city square at this point morrigan yells there there's the nasty it ate my wand get it as soon as morrigan finishes speaking the ooze expels another burst of magic from this point on the dm should roll randomly every round to determine what magic the gray ooze unleashes the dm needs to remember that the ooze and rhino are two separate threats; they are both animals acting on instinct and do not purposefully oppose or cooperate with one another one to four rounds after the rhino emerges from the sewer two city constables arrive unfortunately the constables are ill-equipped to deal with the situation they hold back until reinforcements arrive 6 rounds after the first guards appear the constables assist the pcs any way they can but are too afraid to confront the rhino directly; they are useful for clearing out the square and seeing that citizens are escorted out of harm harm's way concluding the adventure concluding the adventure concluding the adventure if morrigan is alive by the end of the adventure he explains to the pcs what happened in the sewer if morrigan dies the pcs must unravel the bizarre mystery on their own morrigan might be exiled from riverspire as a result of his actions the newly unemployed mage could try to join the pcs further plaguing them with accidents caused by his own good intentions the pcs should each recieve a 300 xp award for successfully protecting riverspire 's populace the amount can be modified depending on how the goal was accomplishes and the amount of destruction the pcs actions diverted if the rhinoceros is subdued without being killed a special quest might be required to return the beast to its native habitat the undoing of the ooze ooze's magical belches can lead to many future adventures for example a pc or an important npc might have been turned to stone by a random wand effect requiring the pcs to find a way to cure him or her should the ooze manage to escape back into the sewer it will have a chance to bud leaving behind a litter of magic-hungry gray ooze pods to plague riverspire in the future 